Bullfinch report reveals many more victims as mother calls for resignations

Bullfinch report reveals many more victims as mother calls for resignations

By
Andrew Ffrench

Buy this photoJayden Parkinson’s mother at the demonstration yesterday. The face of the mother of one of the Bullfinch victims has been obscured to protect her daughter’s identity. Picture: Ed Nix

A VICTIM of the Bullfinch gang and her mother demanded that heads should roll at Oxfordshire County Council ahead of today’s report into the abuse scandal.

The pair yesterday staged a demonstration – supported by murdered teenager Jayden Parkinson’s mother Samantha Shrewsbury and about a dozen others – outside the council’s Knights Court offices in Between Towns Road, Oxford, as they called for someone take responsibility for failings by social services.

A serious case review by the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board is this morning expected to criticise both Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police’s failure to protect the six victims abused by the gang of seven men.

The Oxford Mail understands the report, released at 11am today, will also say that more than 350 youngsters have been identified as being victims of child sexual exploitation or at risk of being groomed.

The Bullfinch gang was jailed for a total of 95 years in 2013 after a four-month trial that heard how they groomed, raped and prostituted the girls over a number of years.

The mum said: “My daughter was groomed by a paedophile gang and abused between the ages of 11 and 15. She is still suffering because of what happened to her.

“She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, anxiety and panic attacks. My life has been ripped apart.

“Someone – or a number of people high up in the county council – need to take responsibility and step down.

“It’s really shocking that there are so many victims, but it’s not surprising. Apologies are not enough – my daughter should have been better protected.

“Following a similar case in Rotherham, the council cabinet resigned but we have not had anything like that here.

“Someone needs to stand down.”

The victim added: “They have let me down a lot.”

In the two years up to last November, 206 Oxfordshire children feared to have been groomed or at risk of it have been referred to specialist teams dealing with child sexual exploitation.

Fifty-four men have been given child abduction notices banning them from contacting vulnerable youngsters.

Miss Shrewsbury said she was considering taking legal action against Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council after her daughter was murdered in December 2013 by the 17-yearold’s former boyfriend Ben Blakeley.

“I’m here as a mum – like the rest of them I feel let down,” said Miss Shrewsbury, who added she could not discuss what failings she felt occurred.

“Lessons should not have been learned off the backs of our children.

“My daughter will be a Baby P case but an adult version.

“She was a big part of my life and no one listened to us for a long time.

“She’s not here so she can’t shout but I can and I will.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Owen Morton said: “We understand the distress of any parents whose child has come to harm in the way these children have.

“We would be happy to arrange a further meeting with parents to discuss ways that the council can support families in distress.”

The county council said it could not discuss disciplinary action against any staff until after the release of the report at 11am.

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